{"id":37201,"date":"2023-03-11T13:00:53","date_gmt":"2023-03-11T18:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/?p=37201"},"modified":"2023-03-11T13:00:53","modified_gmt":"2023-03-11T18:00:53","slug":"womens-basketball-terriers-advance-to-patriot-league-finals-behind-16-point-overtime-explosion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/2023\/03\/11\/womens-basketball-terriers-advance-to-patriot-league-finals-behind-16-point-overtime-explosion\/","title":{"rendered":"Women\u2019s Basketball: Terriers advance to Patriot League Finals behind 16-point overtime explosion"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Sam Robb O\u2019Hagan<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Cover Photo Credit: Eliza Nuestro<\/em><\/p>\n

In front of a rocking Case Gymnasium crowd, Boston University Women\u2019s Basketball shutout the Army West Point Black Knights in overtime to win 84-68, moving within one win of the NCAA Tournament.<\/span><\/p>\n

Army\u2019s Lauren Lithgow made all three free-throws with 0:24 left in regulation to send the game to overtime, but the Terriers (22-7, 17-1 PL) scored on all seven overtime possessions to outscore the Black Knights 16-0 in the extra period.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI just didn\u2019t want them to feel deflated going into [overtime],\u201d BU Head Coach Melissa Graves said. \u201cSo I just said, ‘We\u2019re fine, we just got to take care of business.’\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Alex Giannaros opened the overtime scoring with a confident wing 3-pointer, and backcourt teammate Sydney Johnson iced the cake with a stepback 3-pointer of her own on the last possession of overtime. Johnson didn\u2019t save time to watch her shot go in, waving goodbye to the Black Knights\u2019 bench as she strutted down the floor.<\/span><\/p>\n

The roar that followed was the loudest Case Gym has produced all season.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c[The crowd] is pretty awesome,\u201d BU senior forward Maren Durant said. \u201cTo have this be spring break but still have kids showing up, it\u2019s really really special and it\u2019s obviously super helpful for tough situations like tonight.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Durant led the overtime charge, scoring on three-straight overtime possessions to give the Terriers a nine-point lead with just over two minutes to play. After assisting two of those baskets, postmate Caitlin Weimar took the baton, scoring on the next two possessions to sink the Black Knights for good.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The pair finished the prolonged semifinal with a combined 39 points on 17-for-27 shooting.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI thought [Durant and Weimar] were the MVPs of the game,\u201d Graves said \u201cThe way they shared the ball with each other was just so big.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Durant called playing with Weimar over the last two seasons \u201ca pleasure,\u201d leading to an embrace between the two in the middle of their postgame press conference. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think our connection on the court is a testament to our chemistry off the court,\u201d Durant said.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Black Knights stayed competitive on the back of their 3-pointers, making seven in the second half, not including Lithgow\u2019s game-tying free throws at the end of regulation. Freshman guard Reese Ericson made five and finished with 19 points.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe knew Reese was a tremendous player, and we could have probably done a better job on her,\u201d Graves said. \u201c[Army] like to drive and kick, which is hard to guard if you can\u2019t keep the ball in front of you.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe kind of fell asleep, and we let [them] cut to the other side open,\u201d Graves said. \u201cThat was our biggest issue.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Graves said that her team needed to contest shooters better going into Sunday\u2019s Patriot League Championship, warning that any opponent can catch fire from three at any time.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIn this type of atmosphere, it\u2019s March Madness, anyone can go off,\u201d Graves said. \u201cA kid like Hope Brown hit four threes today and she doesn\u2019t normally hit that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Brown, finishing with 12 points, scuffled with Johnson from the opening minutes. After a controversial offensive foul drawn by Brown, BU\u2019s senior guard needed a talk from Graves between the first and second quarters to keep her frustration in check.<\/span><\/p>\n

With less than five minutes left in the fourth quarter, Brown shoved Johnson away from her, invoking a review for a technical foul. She avoided the technical, but fouled out on the ensuing inbound with 4:13 left in regulation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Johnson\u2019s wave to the Army bench after her game-closing three was the last laugh, closing out her most animated on-court performance of the season.<\/span><\/p>\n

When asked what the hard-fought win means to her team, Durant reiterated the significance of the postseason atmosphere.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s March, really anything can happen,\u201d Durant said. \u201cBut to be in a situation like we were just in and to come out successful is exactly the next push that we need for Sunday.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Terriers will host the Holy Cross Crusaders (21-8, 13-5 PL) in the Patriot League Championship on Sunday at noon, the third rendition of the \u201cTurnpike Trophy” this season. Holy Cross handed BU their first and only conference loss of the season less than two weeks ago.<\/span><\/p>\n

The winner will earn the Patriot League\u2019s lone ticket to the NCAA Tournament. In 49 seasons, the Terriers have qualified for March Madness once, in 2003.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re super excited,\u201d Weimar said. \u201cWe always say that this is our year.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cCouldn\u2019t have said it any better than that,\u201d Durant said.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Sam Robb O\u2019Hagan Cover Photo Credit: Eliza Nuestro In front of a rocking Case Gymnasium crowd, Boston University Women\u2019s Basketball shutout the Army West Point Black Knights in overtime to win 84-68, moving within one win of the NCAA Tournament. Army\u2019s Lauren Lithgow made all three free-throws with 0:24 left in regulation to send […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21477,"featured_media":37203,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[19,1039,1040],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37201"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21477"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37201"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37201\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37206,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37201\/revisions\/37206"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37203"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37201"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37201"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37201"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}